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Abstract
The water/nonionic surfactant/peppermint oil systems were studied in order to determine the one-phase microemulsion regions. The surfactants were of two types: hydroxylated (sugar esters) and ethoxylated (ethoxylated mono-di-glyceride and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate). These surfactants were able to form microemulsions without the use of cosurfactants or cosolvents. The ternary phase behavior at 25, 37, and 45°C was explored to determine the effect of temperature on the amount of solubilized water in the microemulsions. For each system investigated, the total area of the one phase microemulsion region, AT, was estimated. Temperature insensitive microemulsions were observed in the sugar ester based systems. It was found that minor changes in the surfactant structure suffice to provoke a considerable change in the total monophasic area of the system. Hydrophilic sugar esters were able to solubilize higher quantities of water in peppermint oil compared to the polyoxyethylene type surfactants. These alcohol free microemulsions are promising for food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.